scholarly journals Nebulin and Lmod2 are critical for specifying thin-filament length in skeletal muscle

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (46) ◽  
pp. eabc1992
Author(s):  
Balázs Kiss ◽  
Jochen Gohlke ◽  
Paola Tonino ◽  
Zaynab Hourani ◽  
Justin Kolb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Thin Filament ◽  
Slow Muscle ◽  
Filament Length ◽  
Length Regulation ◽  
Muscle Types ◽  
Myosin Motors ◽  
Fast Muscles

Regulating the thin-filament length in muscle is crucial for controlling the number of myosin motors that generate power. The giant protein nebulin forms a long slender filament that associates along the length of the thin filament in skeletal muscle with functions that remain largely obscure. Here nebulin’s role in thin-filament length regulation was investigated by targeting entire super-repeats in the Neb gene; nebulin was either shortened or lengthened by 115 nm. Its effect on thin-filament length was studied using high-resolution structural and functional techniques. Results revealed that thin-filament length is strictly regulated by the length of nebulin in fast muscles. Nebulin’s control is less tight in slow muscle types where a distal nebulin-free thin-filament segment exists, the length of which was found to be regulated by leiomodin-2 (Lmod2). We propose that strict length control by nebulin promotes high-speed shortening and that dual-regulation by nebulin/Lmod2 enhances contraction efficiency.

scholarly journals Experimentally Varying the Number of Super-Repeats in the Neb Gene of the Mouse - Assessing the Role of Nebulin in Thin Filament Length Regulation

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (3) ◽  
pp. 551a
Author(s):  
Balazs Kiss ◽  
Paola Tonino ◽  
Justin Kolb ◽  
John E. Smith ◽  
Henk L. Granzier
Keyword(s):  
Thin Filament ◽  
Filament Length ◽  
Length Regulation

scholarly journals The effect of altered temperature on Ca2(+)-sensitive force in permeabilized myocardium and skeletal muscle. Evidence for force dependence of thin filament activation.

1990 ◽  
Vol 96 (6) ◽  
pp. 1221-1245 ◽  
Author(s):  
N K Sweitzer ◽  
R L Moss
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Cardiac Muscle ◽  
Thin Filament ◽  
Calcium Sensitivity ◽  
Differential Sensitivity ◽  
Fiber Types ◽  
Tension Development ◽  
Maximum Tension ◽  
Filament Activation ◽  
Muscle Types

The effect of changes in temperature on the calcium sensitivity of tension development was examined in permeabilized cellular preparations of rat ventricle and rabbit psoas muscle. Maximum force and Ca2+ sensitivity of force development increased with temperature in both muscle types. Cardiac muscle was more sensitive to changes in temperature than skeletal muscle in the range 10-15 degrees C. It was postulated that the level of thin filament activation may be decreased by cooling. To investigate this possibility, troponin C (TnC) was partially extracted from both muscle types, thus decreasing the level of thin filament activation independent of temperature and, at least in skeletal muscle fibers, decreasing cooperative activation of the thin filament as well. TnC extraction from cardiac muscle reduced the calcium sensitivity of tension less than did extraction of TnC from skeletal muscle. In skeletal muscle the midpoint shift of the tension-pCa curve with altered temperature was greater after TnC extraction than in control fibers. Calcium sensitivity of tension development was proportional to the maximum tension generated in cardiac or skeletal muscle under all conditions studied. Based on these results, we conclude that (a) maximum tension-generating capability and calcium sensitivity of tension development are related, perhaps causally, in fast skeletal and cardiac muscles, and (b) thin filament activation is less cooperative in cardiac muscle than in skeletal muscle, which explains the differential sensitivity of the two fiber types to temperature and TnC extraction. Reducing thin filament cooperativity in skeletal muscle by TnC extraction results in a response to temperature similar to that of control cardiac cells. This study provides evidence that force levels in striated muscle influence the calcium binding affinity of TnC.

scholarly journals Reduced thin filament length in nebulin-knockout skeletal muscle alters isometric contractile properties

2009 ◽  
Vol 296 (5) ◽  
pp. C1123-C1132 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Gokhin ◽  
Marie-Louise Bang ◽  
Jianlin Zhang ◽  
Ju Chen ◽  
Richard L. Lieber
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Thin Filament ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Nemaline Myopathy ◽  
Myosin Heavy Chain Isoforms ◽  
Filament Length ◽  
Force Transmission ◽  
Thin Filaments ◽  
Tension Properties ◽  
Tension Curves

Nebulin (NEB) is a large, rod-like protein believed to dictate actin thin filament length in skeletal muscle. NEB gene defects are associated with congenital nemaline myopathy. The functional role of NEB was investigated in gastrocnemius muscles from neonatal wild-type (WT) and NEB knockout (NEB-KO) mice, whose thin filaments have uniformly shorter lengths compared with WT mice. Isometric stress production in NEB-KO skeletal muscle was reduced by 27% compared with WT skeletal muscle on postnatal day 1 and by 92% on postnatal day 7, consistent with functionally severe myopathy. NEB-KO muscle was also more susceptible to a decline in stress production during a bout of 10 cyclic isometric tetani. Length-tension properties in NEB-KO muscle were altered in a manner consistent with reduced thin filament length, with length-tension curves from NEB-KO muscle demonstrating a 7.4% narrower functional range and an optimal length reduced by 0.13 muscle lengths. Expression patterns of myosin heavy chain isoforms and total myosin content did not account for the functional differences between WT and NEB-KO muscle. These data indicate that NEB is essential for active stress production, maintenance of functional integrity during cyclic activation, and length-tension properties consistent with a role in specifying normal thin filament length. Continued analysis of NEB's functional properties will strengthen the understanding of force transmission and thin filament length regulation in skeletal muscle and may provide insights into the molecular processes that give rise to nemaline myopathy.

scholarly journals Tropomodulin is associated with the free (pointed) ends of the thin filaments in rat skeletal muscle.

1993 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 411-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
V M Fowler ◽  
M A Sussmann ◽  
P G Miller ◽  
B E Flucher ◽  
M P Daniels
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Thin Filament ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Membrane Skeleton ◽  
Filament Length ◽  
Human Erythrocyte Membrane ◽  
Thin Filaments ◽  
Muscle Tropomyosin ◽  
Immunofluorescence Labeling ◽  
Pointed End

The length and spatial organization of thin filaments in skeletal muscle sarcomeres are precisely maintained and are essential for efficient muscle contraction. While the major structural components of skeletal muscle sarcomeres have been well characterized, the mechanisms that regulate thin filament length and spatial organization are not well understood. Tropomodulin is a new, 40.6-kD tropomyosin-binding protein from the human erythrocyte membrane skeleton that binds to one end of erythrocyte tropomyosin and blocks head-to-tail association of tropomyosin molecules along actin filaments. Here we show that rat psoas skeletal muscle contains tropomodulin based on immunoreactivity, identical apparent mobility on SDS gels, and ability to bind muscle tropomyosin. Results from immunofluorescence labeling of isolated myofibrils at resting and stretched lengths using anti-erythrocyte tropomodulin antibodies indicate that tropomodulin is localized at or near the free (pointed) ends of the thin filaments; this localization is not dependent on the presence of myosin thick filaments. Immunoblotting of supernatants and pellets obtained after extraction of myosin from myofibrils also indicates that tropomodulin remains associated with the thin filaments. 1.2-1.6 copies of muscle tropomodulin are present per thin filament in myofibrils, supporting the possibility that one or two tropomodulin molecules may be associated with the two terminal tropomyosin molecules at the pointed end of each thin filament. Although a number of proteins are associated with the barbed ends of the thin filaments at the Z disc, tropomodulin is the first protein to be specifically located at or near the pointed ends of the thin filaments. We propose that tropomodulin may cap the tropomyosin polymers at the pointed end of the thin filament and play a role in regulating thin filament length.

scholarly journals Tropomodulin 1 directly controls thin filament length in both wild-type and tropomodulin 4-deficient skeletal muscle

Development ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 142 (24) ◽  
pp. 4351-4362 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. S. Gokhin ◽  
J. Ochala ◽  
A. A. Domenighetti ◽  
V. M. Fowler
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Thin Filament ◽  
Filament Length ◽  
Wild Type

scholarly journals An Electrically Coupled Network of Skeletal Muscle in Zebrafish Distributes Synaptic Current

2006 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor M. Luna ◽  
Paul Brehm
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Patch Clamp ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Electrical Coupling ◽  
Slow Muscle ◽  
Synaptic Current ◽  
Pass Filter ◽  
Low Pass Filter ◽  
Low Pass ◽  
Muscle Types

Fast and slow skeletal muscle types are readily distinguished in larval zebrafish on the basis of differences in location and orientation. Additionally, both muscle types are compact, rendering them amenable to in vivo patch clamp study of synaptic function. Slow muscle mediates rhythmic swimming, but it does so purely through synaptic drive, as these cells are unable to generate action potentials. Our patch clamp recordings from muscle pairs of zebrafish reveal a network of electrical coupling in slow muscle that allows sharing of synaptic current within and between segmental boundaries of the tail. The synaptic current exhibits slow kinetics (τdecay ∼4 ms), which further facilitates passage through the low pass filter, a consequence of the electrically coupled network. In contrast to slow muscle, fast skeletal muscle generates action potentials to mediate the initial rapid component of the escape response. The combination of very weak electrical coupling and synaptic kinetics (τdecay <1 ms) too fast for the network low pass filter minimizes intercellular sharing of synaptic current in fast muscle. These differences between muscle types provide insights into the physiological role(s) of electrical coupling in skeletal muscle. First, intrasegmental coupling among slow muscle cells allows effective transfer of synaptic currents within tail segments, thereby minimizing differences in synaptic depolarization. Second, a fixed intersegmental delay in synaptic current transit, resulting from the low pass filter properties of the slow muscle network, helps coordinate the rostral–caudal wave of contraction.

scholarly journals PLASTICITY OF SKELETAL MUSCLE STUDIED BY STEREOLOGY

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
Ida Eržen
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Myosin Heavy Chain ◽  
Satellite Cell ◽  
Satellite Cells ◽  
Heavy Chain ◽  
Myosin Heavy Chain Isoforms ◽  
Slow Muscle ◽  
Fast Muscle ◽  
Fast Muscles ◽  
Slow And Fast Muscles

The present contribution provides an overview of stereological methods applied in the skeletal muscle research at the Institute of Anatomy of the Medical Faculty in Ljubljana. Interested in skeletal muscle plasticity we studied three different topics: (i) expression of myosin heavy chain isoforms in slow and fast muscles under experimental conditions, (ii) frequency of satellite cells in young and old human and rat muscles and (iii) capillary supply of rat fast and slow muscles. We analysed the expression of myosin heavy chain isoforms within slow rat soleus and fast extensor digitorum longus muscles after (i) homotopic and heterotopic transplantation of both muscles, (ii) low frequency electrical stimulation of the fast muscle and (iii) transposition of the fast nerve to the slow muscle. The models applied were able to turn the fast muscle into a completely slow muscle, but not vice versa. One of the indicators for the regenerative potential of skeletal muscles is its satellite cell pool. The estimated parameters, number of satellite cells per unit fibre length, corrected to the reference sarcomere length (Nsc/Lfib) and number of satellite cells per number of nuclei (myonuclei and satellite cell nuclei) (Nsc/Nnucl) indicated that the frequency of M-cadherin stained satellite cells declines in healthy old human and rat muscles compared to young muscles. To access differences in capillary densities among slow and fast muscles and slow and fast muscle fibres, we have introduced Slicer and Fakir methods, and tested them on predominantly slow and fast rat muscles. Discussing three different topics that require different approach, the present paper reflects the three decades of the development of stereological methods: 2D analysis by simple point counting in the 70's, the disector in the 80's and virtual spatial probes in the 90's. In all methods the interactive computer assisted approach was utilised.

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